New Zealand is now a secular, pluralist country with citizens who hold all kinds of views.
Many people worship Jesus Christ, and practise restraint at Easter time as part of their beliefs.
Many more do not.
Christianity still has a powerful place in the culture – it underpins our ethics and our judicial system, much of our art and our language.
But when it comes to whether we can have a drink on a public holiday in the 21st century, let it be each to their own.
Don’t try ordering a glass of wine at the movie theatre [on Good Friday or Easter Sunday].
You’ll be turned down, like fans who strolled out of [Thursday]’s Super 15 rugby match at Westpac Stadium looking for a pint of beer.
Better not head down to the local garden centre for a bag of topsoil or a new spade, either. It’ll be shut, too – at least if it’s not flouting the law.
The reason for this, of course, is that Easter Sunday and Good Friday are the two holiest days on the Christian calendar.
For some practising Christians, refraining from drinking or digging up the garden has its logic. Combined, the two days represent the pinnacles of the Christian story of death and resurrection. Not a time for getting rowdy, then.
For everyone else, however, the enduring trading restrictions on “sacrosanct days” are very hard to fathom. Continue reading.
Source: Dominion Post
Image: TVNZ